Should the Angels be worried about the Texas Rangers?

Weirdly, I grew up following the Texas Rangers. As a little kid in Toledo, Ohio, I had no affinity for the Tigers or Indians or Reds, so at the age of 7, I adopted the Rangers as "my team" in the year they moved to Arlington.

I probably couldn't have made a worse decision. My all-time favorite Rangers were guys like Buddy Bell, Toby Harrah, Mike Hargrove, Jim Sundberg, Bert Blyleven, Bump Wills, Fergie Jenkins, and especially Al Oliver. In 1979, both Sparky Lyle and Jim Kern were in the bullpen, making one of the best lefty-righty bullpen combos of all time. Kern had 29 saves and Lyle finished the year with 13. But, they still managed only 83 wins and a 3rd place finish in the AL West.

The first couple of years I was in SoCal, I stuck with the Rangers. They won 3 division titles in the 90's, but if Jose Canseco would have never played for Texas, ushering in the steroids era, those playoff berths might have never happened.

By the time the Angels won their first-ever World Series Championship, I had long ago quit being a fan of the Rangers, but looking at the AL West standing today, my former favorite team has a 2 game lead on the Halos. My questions is, "Are the Rangers for real?"

As always, Texas can hit (especially in the hitter-friendly Ballpark @ Arlington).27-year-old second baseman Ian Kinsler is the real deal with 14 bombs, 55 RBIs and 11 steals and Nelson Cruz has settled into RF with an .850 OPS, while Michael Young has transitioned seamlessly to 3B (.345 with 7 homers), making room for slick-fielding Elvis Andrus at SS, who has 6 steals so far and will one day win a few Golden Gloves. (Andrus is also being spelled by the great Omar Vizquel.)

The Rangers are 7th in the AL in runs scored, and there is reason to believe that will improve. Last year's revelation Josh Hamilton has missed 14 games, but has started to warm up with 3 homers since returning from the DL May 12, although he is still wrestling with a lingering groin injury. Last year's comeback-of-the-year story has managed only 93 at bats with a .237 average, 5 homers and 19 RBIs so far. If he can get healthy, the Texas lineup will get exponentially more prolific.

Texas' long term prospects for the season will ride on pitching (something the Rangers almost never do well). Their team ERA is #7 in the American League at 4.56 (tied with Boston). The millions invested in Kevin Millwood may finally be paying off with 6 quality starts and a 3.12 ERA, although much of his best work was in April (2.13 ERA) versus May (4.45 ERA).

RHP Scott Feldman has been a find. Now 26 years old, he got killed last year with a 5.29 ERA in 25 starts, but he has found a home in the rotation after a terrible start in the bullpen. He took Kris Benson's spot in the starting 5 went he went down, and he has allowed 3 runs or less in all 6 of his starts, getting his ERA down to 4.04.

24yo lefty Matt Harrison may be the key to the Rangers' season. He has made 4 starts in May, which include a CG shutout of the White Sox, for a 2.25 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP in the second month of the season. Meanwhile, Glendale native Brandon McCarthy, a 6'7" beast acquired a few years back from the White Sox, just gives up too many home runs, yielding 10 so far this year. His 5.60 ERA 'aint pretty, and if he continues to give up the gofer ball, it won't get much better. Also Texas will have to do without overpaid starter Vicente Padilla for at least 2 weeks with a strained pitching shoulder. The former Phillie has a 4.71 ERA.

The Rangers have a rock-solid closer in Frank Francisco. Just back from the DL, he is 10-10 in save opportunities, and he has yet to give up an earned run this year. Lefty CJ Wilson (3.71 ERA) and journeyman Eddie Guardado (6.23 ERA) are the primary and completely unspectacular setup guys in the pen.

One of the major reasons that Texas is where they are is their team defense. They are 4th in the American League, trailing only Minnesota, Toronto and the Yankees. Great leather on the field will hide a lot of imperfections in a pitching staff.

Should Angel fans be afraid of Texas? I don't think so. With Kelvim Escobar and Vlad Guererro returning, the Halos have got a starting rotation of John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, Kelvim Escobar and Jared Weaver, and they have their "bopper" back in the middle of the lineup. The development of Kendry Morales has been phenomenal. I didn't think a .280 average would be possible, but that's where he is now, with 8 homers and 26 RBIs. Drepending how Scioscia fills out the lineup card, facing some combination of Bobby Abreu, Vlad, Torii Hunter and Morales will be a task for any pitching staff in baseball.

My hunch is that Texas will begin to fade as we get closer to the 4th of July. The Angels have survived injuries and a major tragedy, and now they are on pace to take the lead in the AL West by the All Star Break. This feels like a division that the Halos will win going away.

The X-factors for Texas are Kevin Millwood, Scott Feldman and Matt Harrison, who will need to deliver consistently in the Rangers' rotation, and Hamilton, who will need a monster 2nd half if the Arlington gang hopes to compete. But it will, most likely, be another also-ran season for the Tom Hicks' Rangers.